Quint: Cutting Through Coachspeak

Quint Kessenich writes this column for The Baltimore Sun every Friday. For more lacrosse news from The Sun, visit their Lacrosse Insider blog for daily news and notes. Also, follow them on Twitter @LacrosseInsider.

Men’s college lacrosse is filled with fiery coaches who speak their minds. These coaches have their own language, and what they say is often not to be interpreted literally.

The guys are masters of using metaphors and persuasive strategies to get what they want out of their players. What they say and what they mean are up for interpretation.

I took actual quotes from college coaches (without naming names, of course), deciphered the quote and made a contemporary application:

Quote: “We are going to spend more time focusing on us and less scouting of them.”

Real meaning: In the past, we overcomplicated our schemes and played tentative and slow. If we refine and simplify our game plan, we can play faster.

Application: Mount St. Mary's plays at Drexel on Saturday. The Mount is 4-4 with wins over Bucknell, Delaware and Georgetown. Andrew Scalley leads the nation with 24 assists. Both teams have dangerous offensive talent (Drexel has the No. 9 offense, and Mount’s is No. 18) and mistake-prone defenses. Expect a high-scoring affair.

Quote: “We are in wait-and-see mode.”

Real meaning: There's a lot going on behind the scenes that I can't discuss with you right now.

Application: From Maryland’s and Rutgers’ shift to the Big Ten to Johns Hopkins considering a conference affiliation, mum’s the word on conference realignment.

Quote: “He's very coachable”

Real meaning: The player is a robot who listens to the coach and does exactly what the coach wants — unlike some of our other players, who have their own agenda.

Application: Princeton midfielder Tom Schreiber is a star who plays with charisma and chutzpah. He is coachable but not a robot. He makes passes out of the dodge that you can’t teach. He plays within the team system and appropriately picks his spots to improvise. The Tigers get their first Ivy League exam against Pennsylvania on Saturday at Franklin Field.

Quote: “You are what you are for those two hours.”

Real meaning: My players are starting to think they are too good. They're reading the polls and believe victory is just a matter of showing up.

Application: Hofstra upset Notre Dame last week and plays at Delaware on Saturday. It's already been a season defined by parity, close games and upsets. Hofstra beware.

Quote: “If you keep it too vanilla, you become a target.”

Real meaning: If we just line up and try to beat these guys straight up, we won't win. We are going to have to scheme it up and try to beat them with X's and O's because our Jimmies and Joes aren't good enough.

Application: Michigan plays Colgate on Sunday at Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets. The Wolverines are in the early stages of building a succesful program. They are young and will need to use a defensive tactic to limit Peter Baum, the 2012 Tewaaraton Award winner.

Quote: “I don't get highly stressed about things I can't control.”

Real meaning: Eighteen- to 22-year-old players are unpredictable both on and off the field, and often don't listen to their coach.

Application: Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala has been managing his team through multiple self-imposed suspensions for a violation of an undisclosed team policy. They've been rolling suspensions, with certain players sitting out in certain games. Instead of penalizing all of the offenders in the season opener against Siena and risking a loss, Hopkins has chosen to penalize in small doses. This move has been widely scrutinized.

Quote: “They are a very difficult preparation for us.”

Real meaning: This is a bad strategic matchup in which our style and talent don’t mesh well with this opponent.

Application: Duke beat North Carolina on Wednesday night as Brendan Fowler won 17 of 23 faceoffs and Jordan Wolf scored three times. The Blue Devils own this rivalry, having won 16 of the past 17 in the series.

Quote: “We need to embrace the atmosphere.”

Real meaning: The stadium is going to be nuts.

Application: Syracuse welcomes Hopkins to the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon, where the Jays are 5-8 all-time. The Carrier Dome is loud, intimidating and poorly lit for opposing goalies. For the Orange, there is no place like home.

Quote: “You can't get game experience without game experience.”

Real meaning: For young teams, there is no substitute for experience. Been there, done that.

Application: Virginia starts a freshman in goal (Dan Marino), on attack (James Pannell) and on defense (Tanner Scales), and has a first-year starter taking faceoffs (Mick Parks). The Cavaliers have lost one-goal games to Syracuse and Cornell. The Cavs host Ohio State on Saturday and should improve in late March.

Quote: “We are playing checkers, they are playing chess.”

Real meaning: We are forced to play simple schemes. They have complete command of fundamentals coupled with talent and can attack in dynamic fashion.

Application: Cornell, Albany and Maryland have explosive offensive pieces and are finding nylon at a high rate.

Quote: “We can't play bad and still win.”

Real meaning: We're mediocre.

Application: Teams like Navy, UMBC and Georgetown currently fit this mold.

Quote: “Nobody cares about youth ... nobody cares about injuries.”

Real meaning: Then why did you mention it, Coach? That sounds like a coach making excuses and protecting his hide.

Application: Maryland visits a young and banged-up Villanova team Saturday night. ’Nova plays a brand of offense that is best labeled as organized chaos with constant motion and cuts.

Quote: “We are a marked program now.”

Real meaning: Opponents are fired up to play us now, which wasn't always the case.

Application: Loyola is making a journey down a road it has never had to navigate. They are learning that nobody roots for Goliath.

Quote: “His injury is a game-time decision.”

Real meaning: We are not giving away his availability until the very last minute. We don't want to give our opponent any edge either way.

Application: On Saturday, Lehigh goalie Matt Poillon returned to the Mountain Hawks’ lineup in their 12-10 win over Penn State. They are a different team with Poillon between the pipes.

Quote: “We didn't look at film of last year’s game.”

Real meaning: This has dual meanings — last year was a horror show, and I don't want to expose this group to that pain. Or, we crushed them last year I don't want my team to get cocky.

Application: Yale beat Cornell, 14-10, last spring in the Ivy League tournament, ending the Big Red's season without a trip to the NCAA tournament. They meet again Saturday in Connecticut. Rob Pannell, Steve Mock and Matt Donovan have Cornell fans dreaming about Philadelphia as a final destination.